LPD25– DNA, mostly rape kits, are cramped into the refrigerator at Littleton Police Department Department, on W. Berry Ave in Littleton, The department is planing a much needed expansion. RJ Sangosti/ The Denver Post

Photo by LPD25-- DNA, mostly rape kits, are cramped into the refrigerator at Littleton Police Department Department, on W. Berry Ave in Littleton, The department is planing a much needed expansion. RJ Sangosti/ The Denver Post

Detroit Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy is pretty amazing on and off the field.

According to ESPN, Levy spent October trying to increase knowledge for domestic violence awareness month and ended up raising a whopping $30,000 to help get neglected rape kits in Detroit tested through the Enough SAID (Enough Sexual Assault in Detroit) program.

Over the past year, Levy has been a staunch sexual assault advocate and even wrote a powerful op-ed in April about how men (especially in the NFL) need to “man up” when it comes to toxic masculinity and acknowledge their role in rape culture.

“There’s a lot of effects to it, and this is one of those things where we have to create a culture where we’re supportive, men, women and children who decide to report, stand up and say something, they do the right thing,” Levy told ESPN about his activism.

“Their evidence is sitting in a warehouse for 20 years or whatever. … It’s just unbelievable,” he added.

As Hello Beautiful previously reported, Detroit is facing a serious a backlog with their rape kits as it was discovered in 2009, that over 11,000 neglected rape kits were found in a city warehouse. State officials acknowledge that they lack the proper funds to get the kits tested.

Washington DC Residents To Vote On Becoming 51st State On Election Day

Source: Congressional Quarterly / Getty

On Election Day, Washington D.C. voters will do more than just vote for the next president, they will also be voting on the possibility of statehood.

According to The Guardian, the district will vote on its very first referendum to become the country’s 51st State, which if it happens, it would eventually amend U.S. Constitution. Currently, the district receives federal funding for its 672,000 mostly Black residents, but the district lacks voting representation in the Senate or House of Representatives.

Pro-statehood advocates hope that a winning vote in favor of the referendum will help pressure the new Congress and new president to admit the District of Columbia as a state, yet they admit that probably won’t happen anytime soon, The Root noted.

Federal Judge Says North Carolina Must Restore Voter Registrations Of Those Removed From Polls

Source: Ariel Skelley / Getty

In a move to overturn voter suppression in the battleground state of North Carolina, a federal judge recently ruled that County election boards must restore the registration of thousands of voters whose names were removed from the polls.

According to the Huffington Post, the lawsuit, filed by the NC chapter of the NAACP, said that the removal of voters from the rolls due to campaign mailers that were returned as undeliverable, unfairly targeted Black voters. The Justice Department also got involved by sending a statement of interest in the lawsuit. They wrote that stating that removing a mass amount of voters was a violation of the National Voter Registration Act.

Huff Post also wrote that at least 5,600 registrations have been removed in Cumberland County since 2014 with 790 and 63 removed in Moore and Beaufort counties. The NAACP added that in the past 90 days, another 3,500 voters were deleted.

U.S. District Judge Loretta Biggs, who preceded over the case, wrote that the removal was “insane.”

“The Court finds that a narrowly tailored injunction is warranted to ensure that eligible voters are not deprived of their right to participate in the upcoming election due to a flawed process engaged in by the State and County Boards, which this Court has determined likely violates the NVRA,” Biggs said in her decision.

“Voter enfranchisement cannot be sacrificed when citizens through no fault of their own have been removed from the voter rolls,” she added.

Find your local polling place here and don’t forget to vote early or on Nov 8!